UK tax wrappers

Where to put your money if you’re out of your ISA allowance

If you’ve maxed out your annual £20,000 ISA allowance and still have money kicking around that you want to access before retirement, you can consider a General Investment Account, or GIA.

Investments within a GIA incur taxes ✂️ on any income you receive, like dividends or interest, as well as on any increase in the value of your investments – which are known as capital gains.

GIA tax allowances

There are some allowances. Depending on how much tax you already pay elsewhere, like your salary, you might be eligible for a Personal Savings Allowance. This relieves you of tax payments on some or all of your savings’ interest income.

The same is true of the dividend allowance too, though only up to a certain limit. Everyone is also allowed to realise a few thousand pounds worth of capital gains each year without having to pay tax.

Of course, investments in stocks or bonds can fall in value as well as rise. 📊 If you can’t handle that idea, you can consider placing your money in a savings account, instead of investing in assets that carry market risk.

If you’ve maxed out your ISA allowance these too will attract the attention of those pesky tax officials – but only for any interest earned beyond your Personal Savings Allowance. Over the long term, the returns from a savings account are likely to be much lower than from investments in a GIA. But you won’t have to worry about the chance your investments could drop in value. 😨

In this guide, you’ve learned:

🔷 You can stick up to £20,000 each tax year into an ISA and you won’t have to pay any tax on those returns.

🔷 Funneling money into your pension means you’ll pay less income tax and your employer might also match some of your contributions. You won’t be able to touch the money until the age of 55 though.

🔷 If you’ve maxed out your ISA allowance and don’t want to lock up money until retirement, you can consider opening a standard savings account or a General Investment Account.

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As always, when you invest, your capital is at risk and this learning guide is for information only and is not investment advice. Remember that any tax benefits are based on personal circumstances with are subject to change. Although this material is intended to be educational, it may promote the services provided by Wealthyhood.